About Last Night: Envisioning which current Detroit Pistons could be key players on a playoff team

Since 2000-2001 was the last season that the Detroit Pistons missed the playoffs and also happened to be Joe Dumars' first season as GM, it's natural that that this year's team will draw some comparisons to the 00-01 squad.

That season was certainly a struggle as well, with a thrown-together roster, over-matched coach and some ugly basketball being played. But what started to happen towards the end of that season was a few players began to separate themselves and show they can be a part of a winning team.

That team featured Ben Wallace, who would go on to become a top two player on a championship team. They also had Corliss Williamson who, after bouncing around between Sacramento and Toronto trying to turn himself into a small forward, re-invented himself as an undersized post scorer in his half season in Detroit that year.

Chucky Atkins, Michael Curry and Jerry Stackhouse also went from bad team to key players on a playoff team the following year.

After watching the Pistons struggle through another terrible defensive effort, giving Phoenix nothing but open looks, I wondered: which guys on this current team can become central figures on a playoff team? Here's my take, feel free to add yours in the comments:

Playoff-level

Jonas Jerebko: He plays with effort and he can do a lot of things pretty well without being dominant in any one category. He's part Tayshaun Prince and part Ben Wallace.

Wallace: Yeah, he's much older, and his role on a playoff team wouldn't be playing 30-35 minutes a night, but if Wallace is a playoff team's third big, playing 20-25 a night, you're in very good shape.

Rodney Stuckey/Will Bynum: I don't know what to do with these guys. I love them both individually, not sure I love them both in the same backcourt. Not that they can't play together, but if Stuckey and Bynum are two of your top guards, one is going to get big minutes. To me, they both seem like great third guards — come in, play 25-30 a game backing up both positions. One or the other would be great for a playoff team, I'm not sure both would be effective on the same playoff team though.

Rip Hamilton/Tayshaun Prince: Both would certainly both be productive members on any playoff team individually, but on this particular team? Unless the Pistons get an immediate impact player in the draft — and outside the top three, it's dicey, most of the talent is of the high ceiling, needs some development variety — they have to upgrade talent some other way. Flaws or not, Hamilton and Prince are the two guys who could fetch something in return. If one goes and one stays, the one who stays will be as productive as he's always been.

Iffy

Ben Gordon: He's been a key player on playoff teams in Chicago, but those teams didn't really do anything once they got to the playoffs. Gordon can score, and as Boston found out last season, he can carry a team for stretches. But if he's a top two player on your team — and right now, he's paid like a top two player — it remains to be seen if he can lead a team to anything more than lower playoff seed contender.

Charlie Villanueva: As I said Thursday, I like certain elements of Villanueva's game. I think there are roles he can succeed in. But, like Gordon, I think he needs to be surrounded by the right kind of player — namely, a team full of good defenders to mask his defensive inefficiencies and let him concentrate solely on scoring off the bench. If he's going to succeed in that role in Detroit, the team needs to do a lot of work to surround him with that kind of defensive talent.

Austin Daye: Daye has potential, no doubt. The main things he needs to do are get stronger and have the team give him a position. Is he a two? A three? An undersized offensive-minded four off the bench? Or is he some combination of all three? He has a skillset diverse enough to do any of those things, but I'm not sure the team really knows what to make of Daye yet, which is why his playing time has been up and down so much.

Jason Maxiell: Maxiell's played on playoff teams before, obviously, but what always happened to his minutes when the playoffs started? Way down. If he's one of the top two big men on the team, I have serious doubts about playoff viability. But if he can bring his recent stretch of strong play back to the bench next season behind upgraded talent in the starting lineup, he'll be alright.

DaJuan Summers: Summers is the most physically mature of the three rookies — he came in with a NBA body while Jerebko and Daye could both use a little extra bulk. He's also quick, can put it on the floor and can shoot. In short, he should've won the SF job Jerebko did early in the season and should be carving out a niche as a strong, tough perimeter defender. Instead, he never made it into the rotation until well after the team threw in the towel. It's only his first year, so he gets some slack, but he needs to show major improvement over the summer to prove he's a potential useful player.

No way

Chris Wilcox and Kwame Brown are about done as NBA big men. Both have proven if you're big and athletic, you don't have to do anything else to get multiple chances in the NBA. I'm amazed at how long guys like Wilcox and Brown, who let's face it, had every physical gift of some of the better bigs in the league and just never seemed to work at getting better. Good on them — they had nice, high-paying, steady work. But both are approaching 30, and the whole "potential" tag has probably worn out.

Chucky Atkins is nearing the end. He was signed to be a mentor and actually gave the Pistons much more than they could've reasonably expected during the major injuries in the middle of the season. Love Atkins and what he did this season, as well as for when he used to come and light up gyms in Flint-town, but he probably doesn't have much left as far as being an important player on a contender.

Dang. I forgot all about doing some game notes. Well, if you'd like to read about Amar'e Stoudemire going 13-for-15 or the Suns getting 31 assists to just 11 turnovers or Jared Dudley's career game, Chris Iott has all of the ugly details.